Worried things are going to get very tricky!

wildstyle2019

Martico said:

That's handy to have, for sure. You'll have to start paying more than 1% anyway if you want to clear them before 2030. 12 months interest free isn't the best offer, but it's better than no offer. How much is the balance transfer fee? MBNA is a bit tighter than many cards on fees, it's probably around 5%

I think its about 4% but again, better than nothing. 

fatbelly

I agree - I'd bung as much on the mbna card as possible - even phone them and ask for a higher limit

Any card you clear may then offer you a further 0% deal

You need to be throwing your surplus at this, and working together on it. It's lovely to have a min payment of 1% but it doesn't clear the debt in a reasonable period.

TheAble

Are you actually making inroads into your debts though or are the balances still ticking up? If the latter then be wary of yet another 0% consolidation as it may only serve to facilitate overspending and hence more debt. 0% cards I feel are too often the cause of people's predicaments.

wildstyle2019

Thanks. I think i'll try and ask for a higher limit on the MBNA one to see if I can put the Tesco and Santander one on. Will they need to do a credit check for the higher limit? I am trying to avoid credit checks appearing on my report as my score has dropped due to too many credit applications in less than 6 months. I thought if I avoided applying for credit in 6 months it may make getting another balance transfer card easier by the new year? 

I have lots of shoes and clothes to sell so any extra cash will be going on credit card debt. I should also add that I have set all the payments to fixed payments slightly higher than the minimum - not by much buts its something. 

wildstyle2019

TheAble said:

Are you actually making inroads into your debts though or are the balances still ticking up? If the latter then be wary of yet another 0% consolidation as it may only serve to facilitate overspending and hence more debt. 0% cards I feel are too often the cause of people's predicaments.

Sorry I missed this. In short, I haven't started putting extra on any cards yet but i'm not using them anymore so the balances are static - in fact I have nearly paid off £1000 on the Santander one just by not using it. Its only after completing the SOA that I have seen what little surplus I have. So far I have only made cuts to my expenditure so any savings I make will be going on the cards. Its just going to take a LONG time. I think I should just focus on one card at a time whilst trying to shuffle balances around onto existing cards as and when 0% offers come up. I agree, I don't want to take out any more credit if I can help it. 

katsu

What bills do you and your partner split other than food? Eg is your gas and electric £120 a month now or £240?  I feel you shouldn't be using £60 of gas in the summer so wondered how big your winter bills are. 

You say that you have 6yrs left to repay on the £25k that they borrowed for debt before, so I would look at ensuring your SOA is realistic and why you've got back into debt again. As if you can get a real handle on your expenses and budgets, hopefully you can put a stop to it. 

enthusiasticsaver

You have consolidated debt before so you know that this does not work in bringing down borrowing.  The amount you are paying to your partner is probably higher than you can afford and I would certainly say you should be cutting back as far as possible and throwing all spare money on to the cards to bring them down before the 0% runs out and your mortgage goes up. The clothing can go completely (unless some of that is for your child) and I would cut out on amazon prime and window cleaner and the £30 savings (not sure where that is going as you do not appear to have any savings). Altogether you have over £53k of unsecured debt including the £25k your partner lent you.  It is good you are no longer spending on the cards as paying the minimum amounts you are will not be making massive inroads into the amount owed if you are still using them. The minimums will be going up when interest kicks in so I would sell anything or maybe even try for a second job to start making some inroads into that debt before that happens.